Hi everyone - Liz here with some thoughts about Stress Awareness Month, that will hopefully actually make you feel good about stress awareness! Let’s have a go…
We are often told: “You can’t control what happens, but you can control your reaction.” That can feel empowering, until it turns into self-blame, the idea that we’re failing if we can’t manage our emotions perfectly.
Most of us are living and working in a time of high and prolonged stress. Hearing “Manage your stress better. Shift your mindset. Take control.” can quietly become another layer of pressure.
But actually, your stress response isn't a choice; it’s a biological necessity. This Stress Awareness Month, we’re moving away from self-blame and toward brain science. This also neatly coincides with me doing Applied Neuroscience Methodology training (big up Reena Dayal)!!
When stress hits, your body shifts into a catabolic state, breaking down energy to respond, slowing repair and growth. In contrast, anabolic states are when your body restores, repairs, and grows. Understanding this balance helps explain why prolonged stress can feel exhausting, and why small moments of awareness and calm are so powerful - they help your nervous system move back toward anabolic, restorative states.
Not all stress is bad. Brief adrenaline and catabolic responses can sharpen your focus, boost motivation, and train your nervous system, so long as they are balanced by restorative, anabolic moments.
So, what do we know that will help up towards that that balance….
Your Body Responds Before You Do
Your reaction to stress is involuntary. When a perceived stressor (this could be a phone-call from a client, a tight deadline, a public presentation etc) hits:
- Immediate Reaction - Adrenaline: The amygdala sounds the alarm – ‘quick! Something scary is happening’. Your sympathetic nervous system triggers adrenaline release, causing your heart to race, muscles to tense, and senses to sharpen.
- You enter a Fight, Flight, or Freeze (FFF) state, primed for immediate survival, even if the “threat” is just getting a word wrong in a presentation rather than being chased by a lion. Your prefrontal cortex works out the difference pretty quickly so don’t worry, your brain has evolved, but this initial response is fast and involuntary.
- Prolonged Response - Cortisol: If the stressor continues or your nervous system doesn’t settle, the adrenal cortex releases cortisol, sustaining energy and keeping the body in a catabolic state. Prolonged cortisol can cause fatigue, immune suppression, and other long-term effects. Not good.
And…now we know that, what can we do?
Step One: Awareness
Awareness is powerful. Knowing what’s happening in your body means you can start noticing how stress is manifesting. Could be racing heart, clenched fists (fight response), restless energy, quick breathing, (flight response) or stuck or hesitant (freeze).
This way you get to know your body and recognise your subconscious reaction, even if you can’t stop it. The key here is to pay attention with curiosity rather than judgement.
Step Two: Fresh Ways to Respond
All the standard rest, nutrition, water, meditation, movement recommendations are great ways to regulate your nervous system and encourage it into a catabolic state, from where the good stuff can happen. But these often feel a bit of an eye-roll, the suggestion that you need to do even more to reduce stress, making you feel even worse. The good news is you don’t always have to “do more” to fix it (phew).
Neuroscience offers practical ways to respond that don’t require extra time or perfect routines:
Label It: Once you’re aware of it, you name your FFF state silently or out loud (“I’m in Freeze right now”). This awareness and labelling downregulate the amygdala, lowering adrenaline and cortisol release.
Curiosity Over Judgement: Observe what triggered stress like a scientist. Curiosity engages prefrontal circuits, helping shift from reactive FFF to thoughtful response
Micro-Visualisations: Your neurons don’t distinguish between thinking and doing (I KNOW…what?!), so even just imagining calm triggers real physiological changes like your heartrate slowing, muscles softening.
Tiny Tasks: Dopamine, the brain’s “motivation and reward” chemical, helps buffer stress. Small moments of accomplishment - like checking off one tiny task on your to-do list - release dopamine and nudge your nervous system back toward balance.
Quick Physical Resets: Tiny, intentional movements, like releasing your jaw, softening your shoulders, pressing your feet into the ground, send signals to your brain that you’re safe, helping your nervous system shift from stress to calm.
The good news about all these strategies is that they don’t just calm you in the moment, they train your brain and nervous system. Repetition rewires neural circuits, creating new pathways that make calm, reflective, and balanced responses easier and more automatic over time.
So… here’s something to try out this month:
- Notice a stress response in your body.
- Identify your FFF state.
- Label it and visualise your nervous system settling.
- Observe without judgement, over time getting to know your body and brain on a deeper level, so you can work with it rather than against it.
Even these small steps build insight, restore balance, and help your nervous system recover, without hours of meditation or a perfect routine.
Go forth - get to know your brain and have a fabulous Stress Awareness Month!
Liz x